Saleh deputy urged to join Yemen ruling council

Anti-regime protesters on Monday gave Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi 24 hours to join a transitional council to rule Yemen, as the army battled suspected al Qaeda fighters in the south.

But as young protesters prepared for a post-President Ali Abdullah Saleh era, the defence ministry said Yemen's wounded leader, recovering in a Riyadh hospital from a bomb blast, was to address the nation "very soon."

Under the constitution, Hadi is caretaker president in Saleh's absence. The Activists of the "Youth Revolution" movement, who have been protesting against Saleh's 33-year-long autocratic rule since January, said the council would "appoint a nationalist and compatible figure to form a government of technocrats."

They also called for the dissolution of parliament and Yemen's consultative council, for the formation of a committee to draw up a new constitution, and for dates to hold a referendum on the constitution and for elections.

The protest movement said it held Hadi responsible for the violence sweeping Yemen at a time of political turmoil.

A military official said on Monday that at least 80 members of the security forces have been killed in clashes with suspected al Qaeda gunmen in the southern city of Zinjibar over the past two weeks.